My build thus far & some questions

[NativeX]

It's looking like a good time to finally start my first hackintosh/gaming build; here's my shopping cart, I'm open to suggestions for change if something isn't compatible or is a bottleneck/over/underkill

MoBo: Asus H170 PRO GAMING ATX
CPU: i5 6500 3.2GHz
RAM: Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 2133MHz Vengeance LPX DIMM
SSD: SanDisk X400 / 256GB
HDD: WD Black 1 TB / 7200 RPM / 64 MB
GPU: EVGA GTX 970 FTW ACX
PSU: Yet to pick
Case: Bitfenix Neos (maybe)

Whole lot should set me back $1000~ US (It's not fair that I have to see how much cheaper parts are for the US...)

Since making this build I've noticed that the newer pascal GPU's are coming about; whether or not Nvidia gives us drivers for that I'm thinking last gen will go down in price anyway. Would it be possible to get the system up and running with just the intel graphics and get a GPU later on or would that involve going back to square one?

I've also seen some discussions on ****** warning not to partition a single boot drive for OSX/windows; is that still relevant or will I be better buying another SSD for windows?

 

[pastrychef]

Would it be possible to get the system up and running with just the intel graphics and get a GPU later on or would that involve going back to square one?

Yes, you can start off using the Intel graphics and add a video card later on. No need to go back to square one.

I've also seen some discussions on ****** warning not to partition a single boot drive for OSX/windows; is that still relevant or will I be better buying another SSD for windows?

You can install on same drive or separate drive. Either works. It's up to you. Here's some info: http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-multibooting-uefi.197352/

 

[kiiroaka]

Having separate discs for different OSes is probably better.

Why did you choose the Asus H170 PRO GAMING? Man, that mobo is expensive in Aostralia! $215 versus our $130.

It has an ASMedia controller, which, imo, isn't the best. My ASRock mobo has one and I won't use any of its connections. I think that the m.2 SATA connection on my ASRock mobo uses the ASMedia controller, so I'm not likely to ever want to install one (among other reasons, one being it's inconvenient to install and remove. ymmv.) Yes, on your mobo it controls the USB3.1 connector, so you may have problems getting it to work correctly under OSX.

When the M.2 Socket 3 is operating in SATA mode, SATA port 1 will be disabled.

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/H170-PRO-GAMING/specifications/

You may want to consider going with a single kit of 4x8G instead of 2x8G RAM. It just gives you a little more breathing room, especially when you have a lot of browser tabs open; imo. 16G is fine for gaming, though.

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/B150M-A/Non-Z170_DDR4_4DIMM_memory_QVL_report160726.pdf

http://www2.corsair.com/retailer/default.aspx?rid=13251

http://www2.corsair.com/retailer/product_results.aspx?rid=13251&id=6111137

Hmmm. It only lists DDR3 mem. That's a red flag to me. RAM 1.5V & 1.65V on a Skylake that usually uses 1.2V? hmmm.

http://www.gskill.com/en/configurator
http://www.gskill.com/en/configurator?manu=29&chip=2548&model=2567
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.phtml?id=10&id2=401&bid=6&sid=201934 That is close to USA prices.

Forget the manual, it is wrong; install the RAM in A1 & B1 if you're installing two sticks.

Forget overclocking, if you increase the CPU voltage above 1.65V you may fry the RAM. Why anyone would run a 1.35V CPU at 1.65V is beyond me.

Some report problems with RAM slot 1 being to close to the CPU heat sink & fan. idkfs. Me, I don't like that RAM retention mechanism, I prefer "fingers" or "wings" on each side of the RAM slot. Supposedly they have caused problems on some MSI boards. idkfs.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-intel-skylake-core-i5-6500-review

I used to be an overclocker a long time ago. Now I just buy the fastest proc available. And install the max mem the mobo can take.

 

[NativeX]

Dude all MB's look to be much more expensive here D: I was so dissapointed when I realised Newegg hadn't translated the currency on a board that turned out to be $300 rather than $150

Originally I was looking at the Gigabit h170 d3h which is $55 cheaper but the ASUS has an edge with a couple of features, I could still change my mind but at this stage I'm happy with the price. The ASmedia thing is new to me though, however if all I'm going to lose is the USB 3.1 in OSX then that's not a huge issue, I'm not relying on using it soon

The M.2 taking up a SATA slot shouldn't be an issue either; if I ever get an M.2 it will be PCIe based for those glorious multi-GB/s speeds

I'm only aiming for 8GB with this build. My experiences with my 16GB rMBP tell me that it's rarely going to be utilised and only makes the system slower to wake up. I've seen a couple of comparison videos for gaming in windows too and I'm not bothered about springing for a 2FPS~ boost
Could you elaborate on the red flag? If I found that corsair page I would have just assumed it was outdated/incorrect.. I kind of assumed as long as the specs matched it would be compatible. Side note; the asus mobo page doesn't mention any support for DDR3 at all so they seem to be conflicting..

Edit: The corsair site seems to be wrong. Even the gigabyte MB shows up as DDR3 and in my build searches they've all been done using DDR4

 

[pastrychef]

In most instances, the M.2 slot can operate in two modes, (1) PCI-e mode or (2) SATA mode. When operating in PCI-e mode, it will NOT use the SATA controller of your motherboard. When operating in SATA mode, it will occupy one of the SATA connections of the SATA controller and one of the onboard SATA ports will be disabled.

M.2 SSDs that use the PCI-e are the ones that offer the very high performance. M.2 SSDs that use SATA perform no better than any other average 2.5" SSDs.